The Running Horse Group had an inaugural meeting on the 6th July 2010 (in the Running Horse Inn, London). This meeting was an attempt to address the perception that those most affected by the future delivery of Child Health Services appeared to be least engaged in its evolution. The following points were made:

Child Health (the delivery of care across all services, populations and areas) is a different concept than that of just “Paediatrics”.

Clinical Leadership in Child Health is an important area for development

Expectation of the future role of the trained Paediatrician must be managed as this will have important repercussions on recruitment into the specialty.

The focus of the group quickly changed from one of workforce planning to one of quality improvement and cultural change leading to the development of our current ‘mantra’

Inspiring the child health workforce to deliver high quality services that delight children and their families

A great deal has happened in the last 5 years but it is fair to say the RHG has been quiescent recently. There are a variety of reasons for this but it is clear that the ethos and concept of the group are still very much in the minds of many organisations and individuals. The time has come to look at another 5 year plan but more importantly re-energise our membership.

In the summer we hope to hold an event where we can discuss where the RHG stands and more importantly continue to reach out to anyone who is interested in our aims. This includes a new generation of paediatric trainees who have the passion to look outside the current paediatric curriculum but more importantly other medical specialties and health care professions. The worst thing that could happen to the RHG is that it becomes an exclusive club. It should be open to all and with the Foundation of Child Health put on hold there is a clear need to bring professionals, parents. children and young people together in other ways.

Please look out for further announcements but in the mean time please encourage others to join (by following this website). If you get a chance also have a look at the #ReACT website – an open repository of resources based around identifying the deteriorating child. Maybe share the following two videos? It’s possible you might save a life by doing so…